News

(RNS) — It’s not Meghan Markle’s stunning 16-foot veil or bouquet of forget-me-nots, the favorite flower of the groom’s late mother, Princess Diana.

It’s not the romantic words Prince Harry whispered to his bride as she joined him at the altar.

Days after the royal wedding, it’s the address by the Most Rev. Michael Curry, presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church, people still are talking about.

PAHOA, Hawaii (BP) -- With a volcanic eruption on Hawaii's Big Island in its third week, the state's Baptists are preparing to feed evacuees at area shelters and requesting prayer for the region's tourism industry.

The number of U.S. Christians who feel they have a personal responsibility to share their faith has declined over the past 25 years, according to a Barna Group report published on May 15.

EDINA, Minn. (RNS) — Growing up a conservative Southern Baptist, Mike McHargue loved science.

He would drive his youth pastor and Sunday School teachers “insane,” he said, with difficult questions in his quest to reconcile his faith with science.

GREENSBORO, N.C. (RNS) — Faith Community Church, a small, mostly African-American congregation, has a long history of activism dating back to the civil rights era.

About a decade ago, church members, who worship in a small space within the Beloved Community Center, a larger hub for social justice activism, began to recognize the growing urgency of climate change, as well.

PHILADELPHIA (BP) -- The Bible tops coffee, social media and sweets as a daily necessity for only 16 percent of the population, according to new research commissioned by the American Bible Society (ABS).

(RNS) — Like many Muslims, Chicago attorney Nura Maznavi pays zakat during the holy month of Ramadan.

And like many Muslims, she usually fulfills her zakat, an obligatory tax meant to purify Muslims’ wealth, by giving to local social service organizations and international relief groups. This year, she’s chosen a less traditional cause: helping people who are stuck in jail make bail.

JERUSALEM (RNS) — When American and Israeli officials inaugurated the first-ever U.S. embassy in Jerusalem Monday (May 14) in a festive red, white and blue ceremony, more than 100 evangelical Christians, including former U.S. congresswoman Michele Bachmann, were on hand.

RALEIGH, N.C. (RNS) — Under sweltering 94-degree heat in front of the General Assembly building, a hardy group of progressive activists gathered to revive the 40-day Poor People’s Campaign, the civil disobedience movement founded 50 years ago by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

PAHOA, Hawaii (BP) -- Amid a lava flow that has destroyed three dozen structures and the threat of a violent volcanic eruption, Hawaii's churches "are working in really neat ways," said Chris Martin, executive director of the Hawaii Pacific Baptist Convention (HPBC).